Breaking news on smart meters in Michigan and around the globe, including the latest DTE and Consumers Energy tactics and how they affect you.
See www.SmartMeterEducationNetwork.com for more information.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Consumers Energy Uses 4G Cell Tower Network to Transmit Readings

Just like DTE smart meters, Consumers Energy smart meters transmit radiofrequency radiation 24/7. This is because the meters "chatter" with each other. You can read more about that on our Smart Meters 101 page. Unlike DTE, Consumers Energy ultimately collects the data via cell phone towers. The signal is sent to the towers once a day. The data sent currently is of hourly meter reads. That can be changed via software updates.

Note that one of the reasons the utility companies have instituted smart meters is so that they can charge time-of-use rates, meaning you will pay more for electricity at certain times of the day. Consumers freely admits this.

4G is a very intense radiofrequency signal that is quite deleterious to health.

Consumers was originally using meters made by GE and by SmartSynch. Itron acquired SmartSynch, so it is now Itron that provides the meters. The utility's deal with Itron includes a 20-year maintenance
agreement-though much of that maintenance will be in the form of
automatic, over-the-air firmware updates similar to those that
cellphones receive, said Moore.

With regard to other providers, Energybiz says: "California's Pacific Gas and Electric, for example, has deployed more
than 9 million smart meters that collect daily gas readings and
electricity readings every 15 minutes, sending them to the utility
through the company's own wireless communication network. And
Tennessee's Memphis Light, Gas and Water is in the midst of a project to
install smart meters to track all three services, which the utility
says also have the potential to quickly detect outages, leaks and other
problems. "